Posted on 02/18/2017 12:02:03 PM PST by ColdOne
Former Attorney General Loretta Lynch signed a final rule shortly before leaving her post that will effectively double penalties under the False Claims Act, which could stand to benefit trial lawyers, who overwhelmingly contribute campaign funds to Democrats.
Lynch, the attorney general under former President Barack Obama, signed the rule on January 13. It doubles penalties under the False Claims Act, the main tool used by the government to combat fraud from persons or companies. Under the 2015 Bipartisan Budget Act, it was required for Lynch's Justice Department to make annual inflation adjustments for civil penalties. Additionally, the department had to make a one-time aggregate penalty adjustment.
When making adjustments, the government typically goes back to the last instance amendments were made to the Act. In the case of the False Claims Act, the last time the statutes were changed was 2009. However, Lynch's Justice Department went back to 1986, the second-to-last time changes were made to statutes.
Due to Lynch's Justice Department referencing 1986 for its baseline year on the changes, inflation adjustments were calculated using the Consumer Price Index from that year to the present.
Penalties under the False Claims Act range from $5,500 to $11,000 per claim. The new penalties would range from $10,781 to $21,563 for penalties assessed after August 1, 2016 and $10,957 and $21,916 for penalties assessed after February 3, 2017.
(Excerpt) Read more at freebeacon.com ...
I was sucked into a case which,although I didn't realize it at first,turned out to be connected with the disappearance of $75 million and several elected officials having received Mafia-like threats ("you've got a nice family there...").It was in papers nationwide due to the sum involved,the fame and wealth of one of the guys being investigated and the threats.
I was literally an innocent bystander (and a small time one at that) but his lawyers ****** me royally...and didn't even bother to use vasoline.
Before this I had a pretty negative view of the "typical" American lawyer.Today I'm convinced that the typical American lawyer (although not all lawyers) are genuine psychopaths.
Sounds like something John Edwards would think up!
It would help to use the real name: bounty hunting.
good .....let’s audit the obama’s vacation bills
I only like the military attorneys I worked with. They got paid the same as other lieutenants, captains, majors, etc. They didn’t get six-figured bonuses.
Yeah, they were pretty good to us at Christmas time. We usually got a Christmas bonus based off their earnings for the past year. Normally something like two-weeks pay or a little more if we had a good year. But, of course, nothing like the good five-to-six figures they earned in bonuses. I know one that nearly doubled his pay for the year because of a couple of huge cases that brought in big bucks. I know another that got kicked out as a partner because he didn’t bring in an extra dime in money over his normal billings.
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